[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #40822: Addressing Proximity in the admin area

[WordPress Trac]

#40822: Addressing Proximity in the admin area
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 Reporter:  trishasalas                |       Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)               |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                     |   Milestone:  Future Release
Component:  Administration             |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                     |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  a11y-task has-screenshots  |     Focuses:  ui, accessibility
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Changes (by afercia):

 * keywords:  a11y-task needs-screenshots => a11y-task has-screenshots
 * focuses:  accessibility => ui, accessibility
 * type:  enhancement => defect (bug)


Comment:

 Some screenshots with clear examples of how UI controls can be very hard
 to discover for people with low vision, visual field loss, screen
 magnifier users, etc., due to lack of proximity:

 Quick edit (same for Bulk edit):

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/8vzuJzR7Ob.jpg)]]

 Reply to comment (same for edit comment):

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/d98RdU-KeT.jpg)]]

 Save/Delete menu:

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/rxF0ahYXq8.jpg)]]

 Appearance > Theme details: notice "Delete" is on the right:

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/bzuc02OcHD.jpg)]]

 Customizer > Theme details: notice the placement of controls is inverted
 compared to the Appearance screen. This forces users to "learn" a new
 interface and introduces inconsistency with no apparent reason:

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/VYiaYkmtKO.jpg)]]

 Gutenberg (see the toolbar on a very large display):

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/dmyFnAJI2M.jpg)]]

 Additionally, across the whole WordPress admin, the primary action button
 (the blue one) is placed inconsistently. Sometimes it's on the left,
 sometimes on the right. I guess this is mostly for historical reasons: in
 a so large project it's perfectly understandable to have some
 inconsistency across UI sections that were designed at different times. I
 seem to remember this was also discussed a few times but never fully
 addressed. It would be great to establish a solid, predictable, pattern
 and always have the primary action button where users expect.

 Lastly, worth noting a new pattern was recently introduced in the edit
 term screen, see [40655]:

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/gPhxX2xTP3.jpg)]]

 In this case, the placement of controls is far better for accessibility:
 the "delete" link is next to the update button and easily discoverable. I
 understand the concerns about avoiding unintentional clicks so I'd agree
 there should be some grade of separation between the primary action
 control and a Delete/Cancel control, but I'm confident this can be
 achieved respecting the proximity principle.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/40822#comment:6>
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